A Georgia woman faces a felony murder charge after allegedly taking abortion pills and then giving birth to a premature baby who died after about an hour, court records and arrest warrant affidavits show.
It appears to be one of the first cases involving a murder charge for a woman accused of attempting a self-induced abortion since Georgia’s “heartbeat” law went into effect after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. A woman was also charged in 2015 with murder after using abortion pills to end her pregnancy, a case that was ultimately dropped.
In this case, Alexia Moore is charged in Camden County, the records show, after she was accused in late December of taking Misoprostol to end a pregnancy that was estimated at 22-24 weeks along. A warrant affidavit on the charge for felony murder ᴀsserts she “unlawfully and with malice aforethought caused the death of Baby Girl Moore, a human being who was born alive and survived for one hour.”
The case includes several additional factors outlined in the warrant, including alleged use of Oxycodone alongside Misoprostol “for pain” in the attempt to end the pregnancy and a statement to hospital staff affirming her intent to end the pregnancy. The warrant also cites as apparent evidence previous abortions for Moore.
The Current, a Georgia news nonprofit, reported extensively on Moore’s circumstances on Wednesday. The outlet reported she is a 31-year-old U.S. Army veteran and mother of two young children from Kingsland, Georgia, and spoke to her mother, Edith Moore, a local pastor. Edith Moore told The Current that her daughter is an “excellent mother” and that she believes “her children are her life.”
The case arose on Dec. 30, according to the arrest warrant obtained by 11Alive, after Moore allegedly took eight abortion pills and “an Oxycodone” the night prior.
Kingsland Police Department officers responded around 10:30 a.m. to the Southeast Georgia Health System Camden Campus Emergency Room, where the newborn infant was declared deceased at 10:35 a.m. The warrant cites “medical records” for estimating the fetus was at 22-24 weeks when Moore gave birth, and weighed about 1.2 pounds.
Additional warrants tied to two drug charges Moore is also facing (regarding both Misoprostol and Oxycodone) provide further details, including that she allegedly told a friend the night before she believed she was within a 14-week time frame.
Georgia’s “heartbeat” law, formally known as the LIFE Act, restricts abortion after the presence of a fetal heartbeat, which is generally around six weeks. In states without such restrictions, surgical abortions can be performed generally up to about 24 weeks, according to Planned Parenthood.
The Kingsland Police Department arrest warrants state Moore was taken to the hospital the morning of Dec. 30, complaining of abdominal pain.
The warrants are not explicit about how police were first contacted regarding Moore.
The Current reported that a security guard called local law enforcement after hospital staff learned of the attempt to induce an abortion. The warrant alleges that Moore told them, “I know my infant is suffering, because I am the one who did the abortion. I want her to die.”
She also allegedly provided the Misoprostol pill bottle she ordered online, which “did not show a prescription number or a prescribed doctor.”
The Camden County Sheriff, Kevin Chaney, told The Current that hospital security guards are sworn peace officers who serve a law enforcement function at medical facilities and frequently report information to law enforcement.
Moore was taken into custody by Kingsland Police on March 4, and the felony murder warrant was filed on March 5.
The warrant says medical records listed a cause of death for the infant of “neonate complications, respiratory distress requiring intubation, and respiratory distress needing oxygen.” It further states the investigation determined “the baby was well beyond six weeks of conception based on the medical staff’s knowledge that the baby had a beating heart and was struggling to breathe.”
“Under Georgia law, the victim became a person at the moment of live birth,” the warrant states. “Moore’s intent to kill is established by her own verbal admission that she wanted the infant to die and her knowledge that the infant was suffering due to her actions. By intentionally ingesting high doses of Misoprostol at 22-24 weeks of gestation and introducing illegal Oxycodone into the infant’s system, Moore committed an unlawful act that directly resulted in the infant’s respiratory failure and death.”
Her case record indicates she was denied bond on March 6, citing a Magistrate Court’s inability to give bond on a murder charge (such authority lies with the Superior Courts).
